Hitting the ceiling over house prices

KUALA LUMPUR: Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar has got into a war of words with Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali over house prices in the state.

Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday, Noh accused the Selangor government of manipulating housing prices.

“The state government via local councils places development charges as one of the conditions, meaning early charges for infrastructures that need to be built.

“This often ends up with the developer either abandoning the project or shifting the high cost to buyers,” Noh said.

He added the conditions are among the determining factors for the value of a particular property, where the decision of the state government is absolute.

However, Azmin in an immediate response claimed his government has managed to offer cheaper housing under the Rumah Selangorku programme, compared to Putrajaya’s PR1MA.

“What is the price of PR1MA’s affordable houses? RM400,000. What is the price for Rumah Selangorku? RM250,000. Did he pass his Mathematics?”

Azmin added that Rumah Selangorku had taken the approach to make life easier for people in the target group.

”We set the condition that Rumah Selangorku housing must be built first before the more expensive houses,” he said.